Bros: An Uproarious Gay Rom-Com at Odds With Itself

Bros‘ most significant issue is precisely the commentary on gay films that opens the movie.

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It's a mainstream, wide-released romantic comedy that follows the formula countless other romantic comedies have followed while insisting that it isn't like other romantic comedies.

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Yes, the portrayal of gay men's sex lives as different from straight people's, and the inclusion of queer people of color and trans characters is significant, but at the end of the day, this is still a movie that wants to be accepted by mainstream culture.

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In the name of that acceptance, Bros doesn't include things that might be seen as “too much.”

Its adherence to a progress narrative allows the audience to feel as though they are succeeding in a form of allyship simply by watching the movie.

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Yet, despite these significant problems, Bros is a crowd pleaser. It's a romantic comedy that is hilarious and tells a standard but not dull love story with emotional honesty from Eichner and Macfarlane (who is remarkable throughout).

It's filled with cameos and jokes that will appeal to a wide variety of viewers.

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And while it is committed to appealing to mainstream culture, it ends on a thesis statement that “love is not love” and that gay men aren't the same as straight people, which counts for something.

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